Recently, there have been a few companies making news about their stance on teleworking. Yahoo made a sweeping change to its policy, and said that all employees would have to show up at the office to work. Best Buy made changes as well, but did not go as far. They Read more…
Ergonomics is the broad study of how people interact with their environment. It covers a wide range of these interactions—from how people fit into their cars, to the way tools feel in people’s hands, to motion in the workplace. As with your car, a proper fit in the workplace makes Read more…
One of the challenges Lean philosophies have faced is the perception that they are applicable only on the shop floor. That view, though has been under assault for some time, most notably with the rise of the Lean Office and Lean Healthcare. Lean has not enjoyed the same inroads in Read more…
Balancing relationships and the requirements of your job can feel like you are walking a tightrope. One of the most challenging balancing acts comes when you have a coworker who is constantly passing on the same problem to you over and over. You don’t want to feel like you are Read more…
Many people are familiar with the concept of one-touch exchange of dies, an offshoot of SMED. The basically means that there should be a simple, fluid motion to replace dies and fixtures in order to minimize setup time. The concept is present in the real world as well. Consider the Read more…
Enter a heavy manufacturing facility, and you will likely hear the “clank, clank, clank” of metal hammers, or the dull thud of a dead blow hammer. Hammers are used to compensate for a quality problem elsewhere. In most cases, they are used to “adjust” a component, or install something that Read more…
The total workload for a team is directly related to the demand, and demand tends to change over time. On occasion, the demand rises faster than planned, and suddenly a team feels shorthanded. For a variety of reasons, there can be a delay in getting more people on the staff Read more…
You spend an incredibly large percentage of your day at work. On top of that, the general tone of the day carries over to your personal life. When the day is full of complaints, whether yours or other people’s, the day takes a lot out of you. Fortunately, there are Read more…
People like to control their own destiny, but unfortunately, companies are not democracies. There is good news, though. Strong leaders recognize that employees are a great source of ideas. Many organizations have opportunities for frontline employees to participate in groups that help chart the course of the company.
Part of developing trust between bosses and employees is doing what you say you will do. Employees tend to do this well. There is only one manager to follow up with in most cases, and there is also risk to a career if lack of follow-up is a pervasive problem. Read more…
The term order interaction point refers to the location in the fulfillment process where a specific item becomes attached to a specific customer. This doesn’t matter much when there is a standard set of products, but it does have relevance when products require customization. The order interaction point is, in Read more…
When a company embarks on a Lean journey, there is a lot of learning that goes on. This includes managers. Some may have experience at creating a continuous improvement culture, but many do not. They may make some bad decisions that affect your job. How you approach him or her Read more…